1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method and a device for controlling a test system for motor vehicles (European system).
2. Discussion of Related Art
According to the related art, there are known test tracks which combine the operating elements and functions over a communications console. All values determined by the individual testing devices are processed and evaluated in a central unit.
However, such a system has the disadvantage that when changing from one test track to another, a tester conducting a test of a motor vehicle must re-enter the specific vehicle information into the control system of this new test track in order to perform the test.
Especially with large test track installations, it may be important for the tester to be able to move the vehicle from a first test road to another to perform the outstanding tests in the second test road. This is important especially when a section of the first test road is blocked but the section of the second test road with the same test function is ready for use.
It is a primary purpose of this invention to create a method of controlling a test system for motor vehicles having at least one test road and a device for carrying out this method that will permit rapid and automated testing of motor vehicles with a high flexibility while guaranteeing a high utilization of available capacity.
According to this invention, an unambiguous and current identification number is generated by the system for each motor vehicle to be tested. This identification number may be a serial number. After generating this identification number, a test data record with the identification number as the identifier is generated, with this test data record having a predetermined number of data fields. The test data record is loaded onto a workstation of the system, and a test cycle of a test station is performed. With this test cycle, measured data are acquired and transferred to a workstation. The data fields of the test data record are then filled selectively with the received measured data. Then the contents of the data fields of the test data record can be output to an output device. The output device may be a printer or a display screen, or both.
The test cycles of the test stations of the invention can be controlled by a control module which is provided for the respective test station. These control modules may be connected by a field bus to a control node which is in a workstation. Data can be transmitted between the individual control modules and the control node by electrical, optical or electromagnetic means.
There may be numerous workstations which are networked with a LAN (local area network). These workstations may be clients connected to a server. However, this LAN structure is only one example. It is also conceivable to use workstations which serve only as terminals, with these terminals being connected to a central computer.
The workstations may be distributed so that one workstation is set up in an office area and another workstation is located at the test road. If numerous sections are provided for this test road, one workstation may be provided for each section.
The workstations of the test road may be connected to a field bus which is also connected to control modules. These control modules are programmable electronic units which can perform a test cycle of the respective testing instrument and can also hold the necessary measured values. These measured values are then transmitted via the field bus to the control node in the respective workstation. These measured data can then be stored and administered on a central computer (server), for example.
In addition, a card reader may be arranged on the workstation located in the office area. This card reader may be used to store the identification number of the current testing operation on a card. This card can then be inserted into a second card reader located at a first workstation of the test road. This makes it possible to read the identification number of this card and transmit it to the respective workstation. As will be explained in greater detail below, reading the card serves to initialize the testing procedure in that the workstation is informed of which vehicle is ready for testing. Using the identification number, the necessary vehicle information can be loaded onto the workstation to perform a suitably adapted test.
In addition, a transponder system may also be provided, consisting of a transponder element and a transmitter/receiver. The transponder element may be assigned to a certain tester, in which case the tester moving the vehicle through the test road will be recognized at each test section, thus permitting an unambiguous assignment of the vehicle to the measurements performed. Therefore, a vehicle can be moved by a tester from one test road to another without requiring a new identification of the vehicle, because a section 2 of test road 2 recognizes by means of the transmitter/receiver of the respective transponder system which vehicle is ready for testing and then enters the measured data into the test data record of this vehicle.
In addition, a device is provided according to this invention for controlling a test track system, optionally consisting of multiple workstations, for motor vehicles. These multiple workstations may be connected by a LAN to a local area network server which is capable of supplying the required information for the workstations and loading the test data record onto the workstations.
According to this invention, a modular and thus expandable vehicle testing system is created, permitting optimal utilization of all test sections. In addition, this guarantees that vehicles or testers, or both, can be identified automatically online, so that the testing operations are optimized with regard to time in the best possible way, because no additional time is required on the part of the tester for vehicle identification or setting the test instruments for the specific type of vehicle.
Using the card and transponder minimizes the incidence of errors in all information relevant to the vehicles, because the tester need no longer enter the vehicle identification into the system at each section. In addition, the test system according to this invention permits better utilization of work time and test stands with improved vehicle throughput.